


Into the Darkness

by LegionWithHisBadassN7Armor



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Multi, i'll add tags as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 22:44:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7011229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegionWithHisBadassN7Armor/pseuds/LegionWithHisBadassN7Armor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sky is torn open and that means problems. And problems in this case meaning demons, attempted assassinations, Wardens raising a demon army, and an ancient Tevinter magister more than willing to be a new god. These recent events force Del, a rather serious Red Jenny, Zither, an Inquisition agent and Nathalie, a templar and her lover Arianna, a mage to team up and try to survive in a world gone shit.</p>
<p>(Multiple POVs)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic ever, so it's probably has some (a lot??!) mistakes. Feel free to comment pros and cons, mistakes or pretty much anything you like :D  
> I tried to keep this to the lore, but there might be some mistakes, so sorry about that in advance^^

## Chapter 1

## 

### Lafaille

_Lafaille_. It was a family that no wise Marcher would publicly identify himself part as. It was once a powerful name, as the Orlesian chevalier Ser Michel Lafaille took Kirkwall back from the Qunari in 7:60 Storm. After the Free Marches rebelled against the rule of Orlais and became independent in 8:50 Blessed, the name Lafaille lost any meaning and value it had had, along with whole Orlais. All the way to this day, the name still carries little weight in the Free Marches, other than just being nothing but a constant reminder of the time of Orlesian rule. Even though Del actually had nothing to do with Orlais or his ancestor Lafaille, he had had his share of cold stares and hushed whispers which mostly were about him being nothing but an Orlesian scum. When Delmont Lafaille had reached the age of 16, he entirely stopped using his last name and always introduced himself simply as Del. Made things much more simpler. Only then could he be just a common lad from Kirkwall, which he had always considered himself as. Being a Lafaille had put him, using his own words, in a rather shitty situation since he had started to despise Orlesians in the same fashion as his fellow Marchers, despite him actually being an Orlesian.

Del naturally grew up in Orlais, a city called Val Foret. Ever since he had began to understand the world around him, he’d never really adjusted to the extravagant way of life. The older he got, the more disgusted he felt with the inequality and the whole fabric of Orlais’ society. Whenever there was no one to see, Del would always sneak into the servants’ quarters, bringing them all sorts of things; from leftover food to toys for other children to play with. Lafailles didn’t treat their servants badly, apart from Lady Lafaille’s attitude which practically screamed that she was far superior to those dirty alienage elves. But every time Del noticed that faint condescending look on some young elf’s face after being scolded for nothing, like eating some of the left-overs that would be thrown away anyway, he couldn’t help but to try to do something to make them happier. Of course his mother would catch him now and then, but it didn’t stop Del. Maybe, just maybe he could’ve integrated to the privileged life he was meant to have. But all that fell to crumbles when Delmont Lafaille met Ser Ruth.

Ruth was a Marcher from a minor noble house. To Del, she represented everything he had been keeping in his heart. Even at young age she was a brave, righteous and kind-hearted woman, who never seemed to falter. She was _beautiful_. They met the first time at the Free Marches’ Grand Tourney when Del was about 14 years old. At first a couple years older Ruth had looked Del with the face he had come to know well in his later years in Kirkwall. _Spoiled Orlesian bastard_.

As the Tourney went on, Del spent more and more time with Ruth (much to his mother’s discomfort), and slowly she began to warm up. The two soon realized that they had very similar thoughts about society and the value of life itself. During those few weeks, Del felt like he had stepped into a whole another world. It felt like all his previous life was just a dream, no, more like a nightmare. Ruth had opened his eyes, and Del couldn’t help but to marvel at that perfection he thought he’d never find. 

When The Grand Tourney started nearing at its end, Ruth and Del promised to keep in touch, though Del knew he’d have to do so in secret (of course his mother would’ve never let his precious son befriend some irrelevant Marcher girl).

“Promise me, you’ll write”, Del had said.

Of course he would never admit it to anyone, but at that time he was close to tears. He was terrified, terrified to return to his old life, where he’d have to listen endless amount of pointless gossip, watch some silly noble girls dallying in their silly dresses and worst of all, seeing all the servants who at some households were not treated any differently than some lowly slaves. Del swallowed and then Ruth grabbed his hand firmly.  


“I promise”, she answered in a calm tone. They both smiled and leaned in for a hug. That’s when some boy, maybe 17 years old, popped out of nowhere and stared at them for a while. Ruth quickly let go of Del’s hand and her face turned bright red, as if they’d been doing something forbidden.  


“Oh no no no, do not let me...uhm...bother ya”, the boy said. His face was bright red and it seemed kind of obvious that he was very drunk. He quickly turned the way he had come from and started walking away from them, somewhat in a very wobbly manner. Ruth and Del both stared at each others for few seconds and then bursted into laughter. It was then, when they parted, but not before making a promise that they would do everything in their power to make the world a better place for everyone.

Del had kept his part of that promise as he run away from home when he turned 15. He was dying to see Ruth and didn’t really have anywhere else to go, so Kirkwall was the most natural choice. But much to his misfortune, Del soon realized that Ruth had joined the Grey Warden ranks about a year before, and she was stationed to, of all places, Orlais. Del wasn’t even sad then. Ruth was fulfilling their dream, so how could he do any worse?

It took 6 years, 87 letters and one truly strange elf answering to the name Sera, for Del to find his way to the ranks of the Friends of Red Jenny. The shadowy group filled with bunch of random people, who were tired to nobles and their bullshit.

“You’re an Orlesian?”, she asked surprised and seemed rather pissed off. “Didn’t expect for you people to give a piss about little people”, she continued.

“How did you-”, Del started but was immediately interrupted by Sera.

“Oh c’mon! I’d recognize that know-it-all accent anywhere, ‘I’m Orlesian pompous ass….ass….Biscuit! Hate those! Freaking raisins…”, she muttered. Sera had contacted Del through a letter attached to an arrow after she found out what he had done at Lord Keran’s mansion.

“But it’s all good, innit?”, suddenly she was smiling again, “Can’t believe they were drinking….what was it? Goat piss? Their faces-”, she started but then bursted into a laughter.

“And they weren’t raisins”, Del added.

“Ewwww! Oh you! I like you”, she kept laughing. Del was trying to keep up with the elf’s mood swings.

“Ever heard of Jennies?” she continued right when she was able.

“Bits from here and there”

“You’re Orlesian, but one of the good ones, yeah? Can’t all be too bad”

“I‘m not Orlesian”, Del answered. He hated being called that.

“Uhm, sorry to break this to ya, but you kind of are. Lafain, right?”

“It’s _Lafaille_ ”, Del sighed.

“It’s fine, Lafainne or not. What matters is, that you care. About people, you know. So, you in?”, she asked.


	2. Virtuoso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These first chapters seem kind of short, don't they? Well the reason for that is, that I planned to give each character an short introduction/backstory before starting the "real" story. I'll make the future chapters longer and more detailed.

## Chapter 2

### Virtuoso

Life was good before. Life had everything ZITHER! needed; music and people to listen to it. Even though he was a mage in Val Royeaux circle, Zither saw himself more as a minstrel. He couldn’t tell where his magic ended and music began. For him music was magic, and magic was his music. Indeed, in addition of being a mage, Zither was also an entertainer. A templar named Alfonso worked as his manager and organized him gigs throughout the capital. Of course the audience never had an idea that their bard was in fact a mage, though some did find his music almost _magical_. 

Of course life never really worked out as planned, and so just like that peaceful days were over for Zither as well as for all mages. It had been going on for years; the tug of war between mages and templars. Then they forgot about the tugging and all that was left was war. Templars picked up their swords, mages their staves and that added to the already raging civil war, the chaos was ready.

Of course Zither knew that some mages were ready to rebel against the Templar reign, he just didn’t believe that it would mean a bloody chaos that destroyed his life as well. He was playing a gig in lady Farrel’s spring ball when the rebellions began. Lady Farrel was a one those few who knew that he was a mage. She was an elderly widow who was a true friend of art. She and Zither had actually grew up to be good friends. Alfonso was always present during Zither’s gigs to make sure that he didn’t summon demons and slaughter everyone. He was a rather short man with black hair and moustache and obviously Zither had never seen him without his Templar armor. He was also one of those templars who didn’t hate mages with every fibre of their being and he wasn’t too strict with every rule there was. Zither was playing his lute in his usual manner when he happened to see another templar whispering something into Alfonso’s ear. At that moment Zither knew something was wrong. He had never seen another templar at his gigs and as soon as the templar had said whatever he had to say, Alfonso’s face turned white. The other templar left and Zither saw Alfonso drew his sword. He started making his way to Zither, pushing dancing nobles aside as he went. Zither felt paralyzed. He stopped playing and many nobles started looking at him with surprised looks. Alfonso sped up as soon as he realized that he was discovered.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Lady Farrel wondered in a high pitch. There were only couple meters between Zither and Alfonso, and Zither felt a drop of sweat stream along his forehead.

“Everyone stay exactly where you are!” Alfonso shouted. All the guests backed off and formed a circle, leaving Zither and Alfonso in middle of it. Many seemed frightened. “Please, whatever you think I’m guilty of-”, Zither started but was stopped by Alfonso.

“I-It’s not about that! You, you a-are coming with me! Now!” he seemed to have trouble forming sentences. Zither had never seen Alfonso like that and that thought alone frightened him. Zither looked around him and all he could see was sacred nobles whispering something he could not hear. He raised his hands up to air as an act of surrender, but that act alone seemed to startle the templar. It felt as the time would have had frozen as Alfonso swung his sword at Zither who reflexively aimed his hand at the templar. He felt magic pulsing in his veins and towards his straightened hand. He shut his eyes, preparing to meet the sword. When he didn’t feel any pain Zither opened his eyes. In front of him there was frozen Alfonso, sword still raised up above his head. All the nobles stared at the frozen templar in fear. Many of them started to scream and run towards doors. Lady Farrel had appeared next to Zither who still couldn’t believe what had just happened. 

“You...What have you done..?” she asked in a faint tone.

“He was going to kill me!” Zither managed to say. At first Lady Farrel looked at the templar, then the panicking crowd and at last Zither. She was just about to say something when a servant girl who had popped out of nowhere tapped her on shoulder. She whispered something to Lady’s ear and her face turned to the match the expression Alfonso had had. 

“W-what is it?” Zither asked as he felt cold sweat and fear taking over his body.

“Follow me. Quickly”, Lady Farrel ordered and hurried towards a door leading out of the ballroom. Zither did as he was ordered.

Lady Farrel didn’t say a word as they hurried through a corridor which had dozens of doors in it. Zither had to take running steps in order to keep up with her.

“Please tell me what in the Maker’s name is going on!” he begged. Lady Farrel just kept going on in extremely fast pace. When Zither couldn’t take the uncertainty any longer, he grabbed her hand and forced her to stop.

“ _Please_ Josette”, he said and sounded more desperate than he had intended to. Josette swallowed loudly and turned to face Zither.

“It has begun”, she almost whispered.

“What has?” Zither asked even though he was afraid that he already knew the answer.

“The mages are rebelling and I think...I think the circle has fallen. All of them.” Zither felt as if the very ground below his feet had crumbled to pieces.

Lady Farrel had equipped Zither with only necessities before sending him off. It was apparent that he couldn’t stay. The two bid very short goodbyes as Zither was in hurry to get as far as he could from Val Royeaux.


	3. First impressions are overrated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathalie's and Arianna's origin will have two chapters: First impressions are overrated and We really shouldn't do this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm usually terrible at writing anything related to romances, but I'm trying my best :D

## Chapter 3

### First impressions are overrated

Arianna often saw nightmares about that night when the Templars came. She was sleeping in her bed when there was a loud bang coming from the door. She jumped up and at the same time all air escaped from her lungs. She knew that something was wrong.

“Arianna!” she heard her mother mother whisper from behind the door. Arianna quickly got up and opened the door. Her mother had a terrified look on her face. She was also panting and her cheeks were all red.

“They are coming”, she said and sounded like she could have bursted into tears any minute. At that time 9 years old Arianna felt true fear for the first time in her life.

As many children before her, Arianna was dragged from her home by a group of Templars. One of them was kinder than the others; he took Arianna’s hand and promised that everything would be fine, she’d just have to go with them without any resistance. The other Templars didn’t say a word. Arianna didn’t even see their faces since they were wearing their helmets. At that time they only seemed faceless monsters, who were trying to lock her up to a tower for the rest of her life. Partly that was true, but later she also understood that they were only doing what they thought was right.

“No, please! I’ll do anything! Just...just don’t take my little girl…”, her mother cried as she fell to her knees. Arianna heard the kind Templar sigh.

“Mother, I-I’ll be fine”, she said trying her best to sound brave. She swallowed her tears; she couldn’t cry in front of her mother who was already crying so much that her tears rolled from her cheeks to the grass under her. Arianna looked at the kind Templar. He nodded as to thank her.

“Let’s go. We’ve wasted enough time here”, said one of the Templars. They were taking their leave when Arianna’s mother shouted.

“Arianna, no!”

“Mother, I told you-”, she was about to say, but fell silent when the kind Templar wagged his head to her mother’s direction.

“Go to her”, he said with a calm voice.

“Nathan, what do you think you are doing?!” One of the Templars snapped.

“Sir, it’ll take only a moment”, the kind Templar replied. The commanding Templar sniffed but didn’t take any actions to stop Arianna. The kind Templar named Nathan nodded reassuringly. Arianna then ran to her mother and hugged her with all her might.

“I promise I’ll be fine”, she whispered.

Arianna would be lying if she said that life in the Circle was always pleasant. The Templars were as strict as ever and things like family and love seemed like things that only happen in fairy tales. Some of the young apprentices even dared to walk along the corridors hand in hand and call it love. During her years in the Circle, Arianna never allowed anyone to get too close; the risk of losing them was too high. Of course there was Nathan, but he was the only exception. Even though he couldn’t publicly socialize with her, she knew he was always secretly looking out for her.

Right from her first years in Circle, Arianna showed a great promise in the field of healing. She was always eager to learn spells she knew could save lives. Indeed, she spent most of her days studying and for that some called her “Brains”. At some point it would’ve been impossible to even dream of, but after recovering from the loss of her mother, Arianna actually felt relatively happy. Her life would seem boring to many, but she was never a person to take risks. That was of course before she met Nathalie.

***

“It’s smaller than I thought”, Marcus said as soon as the Circle tower could be seen behind the tall birches. “Have you ever been to Ostwick before?” he continued.

“No”, Nathalie answered monotonically.

“Oh c’mon Nat. Could you sound more pissed off?” Marcus rolled his eyes.

“Could _you_ stop talking for a second?” Nathalie retorted.

“Hey, if you’re still mad about that-”

“Still mad about that? Marcus, seriously!?” she nearly shouted, “If you just could’ve kept your hands off that elf, we wouldn’t even be here! And there wouldn’t be a problem if it were just you, but no, they had to go and assign me as your babysitter!” She had a good reason to be pissed. Marcus had been her fellow Templar at Perendale’s Circle. However it was discovered that he had had an affair with one of the mages they were supposed to oversee. She was an elf named Nadia or something. As sanction he was assigned to Ostwick’s Circle. It wasn’t really a penalty, just an act to separate Nadia and Marcus. And of course Nathalie had to be assigned to accompany him, to see that he doesn’t dally with any other mages in the future.

“It wasn’t just a half-assed fling! I _loved_ her!” Marcus cried.

“She was a mage! I don’t know what part of the training you missed, but we are Templars and we are not supposed to...to…with them...”, Nathalie was searching for words.

“Haaaave sex with them?” Marcus suggested and right after that received a hard punch to his nose. 

“Ugh! This is all just a big joke to you, isn’t it?!” Nathalie couldn’t control her rage anymore. Marcus who had fallen to the ground by the impact of the punch, was holding his bleeding nose.

“Jeez, Nat! What the hell’s wrong with ya?!” he shouted and got up. Nathalie took a deep breath before answering, this time in calm and collected manner.

“We will have no further talk of mages or those disgusting habits of yours. Understood?” Marcus kept a short pause before replying: “...Yes ma’am”.

The sun was already setting to east when Marcus and Nathalie finally made it to the Circle, after weeks of travelling. At the gates they were greeted by the Circle’s Knight-Commander and First Enchanter. Both of them, especially the Knight-Commander looked at Marcus with judgemental eyes. _Serves him right_ , thought Nathalie. The Knight-Commander was a large man, perhaps in his forties. The First Enchanter on the hand was ridiculously young; he didn’t look a day over twenty. 

“So you must be Nathalie Carandes? Good job with those blood mages”, Knight-Commander said. He was referring to a group of blood mages she had discovered and eliminated all by herself. The case became quite known even beyond Nevarra.

“Thank you, sir”, Nathalie answered. She noticed the First Enchanter glaring at her. Something about that man gave her the chills.

“Well, it’s time for you to get some rest. You’ve travelled a long way. Please, this way”, the Knight-Commander pointed the massive front door. They all followed him inside, the First Enchanter still keeping his green eyes at Nathalie.

“So, any questions?” asked the First Enchanter after giving them a quick tour around the Circle. The Knight-Commander had left their company earlier because of some urgent matter. Nathalie couldn’t help but to feel really uncomfortable around the First Enchanter.

“Uhm, yes. I-I mean what should we call you?” asked Marcus. He was obviously just as nervous as Nathalie.

“First Enchanter will do”

“He meant your first name”, Nathalie corrected in her typical icy voice. For once Marcus was happy for her presence. The First Enchanter narrowed his eyes. He was just about to say something when a young girl arrived. She had short brown hair and deep blue eyes. She was also rather short and had an innocent, almost fairy-like face.

“Uhm, I’m sorry for interrupting, First Enchanter, but the Knight-Commander has asked for you. Immediately”, she said with faint voice.

“It appears that we’ll have to continue this some other time. Please excuse me”, the First Enchanter said and left. The girl who had brought the message, was staring at Nathalie with her large eyes.

“What are you looking at?” Nathalie asked slightly annoyed. The girl seemed to be in her own world since she didn’t answer until Nathalie coughed.

“I-I-I’m so sorry! I just...uhm...have never seen you b-before”, the girl stuttered.

“That’s right. We are from Perendale. I’m Marcus and this is-”, Marcus offered his hand to the girl, but Nathalie slapped it away.

“C’mon. We still have things to do”, she said and warned Marcus with her eyes. Nathalie turned to leave, but didn’t have time to take a single step before she heard the girl’s voice.

“I didn’t hear your name”, she said and grabbed Nathalie’s hand.

“You are overstepping your limits, _mage_ ”, Nathalie rasped out. The girl pulled her hand off immediately. She seemed as surprised as Nathalie. They stared each others for few a seconds before Nathalie shook her head and started walking. 

“Never mind Nathalie. You didn’t introduce yourself either”, Marcus noted.

“I-I’m Arianna”, the girl replied without taking her eyes from Nathalie's back.


	4. We really shouldn't do this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of got carried away with their story, so it'll have a third chapter :D  
> Anyway I tired my best to make them likeable and their story interesting.

## Chapter 4

### We really shouldn't do this

Nathalie was used to be praised about her looks; she had a long, raven black hair, that she always kept on a high ponytail. Her tanned skin added to her strong facial features had earned her quite many looks. She herself didn’t care for such things and the few admirers and suitors she had had only made her slightly annoyed. However, something about Arianna and her intense eyes had made Nathalie spin around a mirror couple times a day. Arianna was always looking at her with her large, indecipherable eyes. Something about the girl’s eyes told that she saw more. Like Nathalie was something so much more. It wasn’t the typical frivolous look she had come to know; there was something different. Usually while Nathalie was patrolling around the tower, she often found herself passing through the grand library, where Arianna was almost every hour of the day, sitting in the corner, nose pressed to a book. Often their eyes would meet briefly, only to make them both immediately look away. Those short moments always left a tingling lingering in her chest. At first Nathalie tried deny those feelings: Arianna was a mage and she was a Templar. Everything between them -anything beyond the ordinary Templar-Mage relationship- would just be wrong. Wrong according to any damn rule there was.

Their rather apparent and mutual interest in each other had continued quite some time, and Nathalie was starting to feel somewhat awkward. She wanted to say something to her and she knew the feeling was mutual as everytime she walked through the library, Arianna would lift her face from behind the book piles. Sometimes she would this faint smile on her face, and something she looked like she was just about to say something. There wouldn’t be any harm in just saying a few words to her, would there? That’s what Nathalie kept telling to herself. Her interest towards Arianna was purely academical since she was without a doubt a very skilled mage. There was nothing else; Nathalie was simply interested in Arianna’s arcane skills. Maybe talking to her would ease those weird feeling Nathalie had had. She was just probably feeling nervous about the constant staring competition they were having.

Then that day came. After being in the Circle for weeks, Nathalie finally found the courage to talk to the girl. She had it all planned in her head. So the next time she was taking her usual route, she didn’t just pass Arianna.

“What are you reading?” Nathalie asked without letting her fluster be heard.

***

Mother and Arianna herself had realized her magical abilities when she was seven years old. She remembered the first dream clear as a day; In the dream a young boy named Nicholas, from her village died after he fell off a cliff. The dream was otherwise like any other, it was hazy and things didn’t look as they did in reality. Expect Arianna felt it was real. When she woke up she told about what she had seen to her mother. She assured that it was just a nightmare and that Nicholas was going to be just fine. Arianna believed her mother and they both forgot about the whole thing. That was until couple weeks later Nicholas was buried after he fell off the cliffs while he was playing in the forest.

And that wasn’t the only such dream. Arianna kept having those premonitions more and more often. Her mother was obviously terrified; her daughter was not just a mage but also some sort of a clairvoyant. She told Arianna not to tell about her visions to anyone. Templars wouldn’t not take her daughter away, no matter what. Arianna obeyed, but everyday she felt more and more quilty. She could’ve helped those people, if she could’ve just warned them. In the end, she gave in; She warned the nice young woman working in the inn about the group of apostates that would’ve been the death of her. It didn’t take long for the Templars to come and take Arianna away from her home.

While she focused on studying healing magic, Arianna was still having the premonitions. She never told about them however, since she didn’t want any more trouble with the Templars. Everytime she was asked about how she got to the Circle, she would always lie that she had accidentally set one mean girl’s hair on fire. 

One of the most impressive dreams Arianna had had was the one where The Hero of Ferelden slew the Archdemon. The dream was as hazy as the rest of them, but still she could feel all the same emotions the Hero had. He felt no fear when grabbed a sword from the ground and lunged towards the creature. He didn’t care if the ritual worked or not, he didn’t care if he’d live or not. He would end the Blight there and then. No matter how important that dream was, it still wasn’t the most meaningful one she had had.

Arianna always had a little interest in love or such things. However all that changed in a course of one night. Somehow she could always tell right away when she was having a premonition instead of a normal dream. That particular dream was of course one of the premonition ones. Arianna herself was in the dream, which was really rare. In the dream she had fallen to ground and felt a sharp pain in her chest.

“Someone help Arianna!” he heard some man shout. She saw a dark figure in front of her, it’s sword ready to strike her down. To her horror, she didn’t have her staff. She gasped as the creature flung its sword at her. It stopped however when two arrows pierced its stomach from behind. The creature fell to the ground and a pool of blood started to spread around its corpse. Arianna quickly stood up and grabbed her staff which was lying a couple meters from the spot she had been. As always she couldn’t see clearly, but she could see two man fighting in a distance. Another one them was a mage, and the other was an archer who apparently had just saved her life.

“Arianna! Are you okay?!” she heard a woman’s voice. And not just any voice. The voice belonged to the woman Arianna loved. She barely had time to see the woman’s Templar armor and raven black hair that was attached to a high ponytail before she woke up.

After she had woken up she could’ve done little else than just lay in her bed panting heavily. It would sound impossible to many, but after that dream she was in love. In love with the black haired Templar.

“What are you reading?” Nathalie asked. That simple question was enough to make Arianna feel dozens of emotions at the same time. She knew that Nathalie was her. As weird as it was Arianna knew she loved the Templar.

***

Talking with Arianna had quite the opposite effect to what Nathalie had hoped. After that quick talk she was supposed to forget the mage, not to start thinking about her even more. Arianna was calm, sweet and surprisingly witty and once Nathalie had even laughed to one of her sarcastic comments about the First Enchanter. And the loathing towards the The First Enchanter was just one of the few things they shared. Arianna for example had a very practical view on magic and Templars. She hated neither and thought they just existed just as water or trees. She believed that the Templars were just doing what they thought was right. And that make Nathalie happy; Partly because that meant that Arianna didn’t have a negative image about her.

It didn’t take long before Nathalie had started to consider Arianna a friend. A friend she couldn’t help but to admire. A lot. The girl had captivated Nathalie with her large eyes that were like a deep pond and with that joyful smile that appeared on her face everytime the two met.

“Nat? Are ya there?” Marcus was waving his hand in front of Nathalie’s eyes.

“Ah yes”, she replied after he had brought her back on earth.

“What are ya even looking at?” Marcus wondered and looked around the library. His eyes stopped when he saw Arianna.

“No way”, he almost whispered. Unfortunately Marcus was really sharp when it came to things like affection and love.

“Not a word”, Nathalie snapped.

“Well I gotta say...I didn’t quite expect that. Not that I’m blaming ya, she is a real beauty-”

“Marcus, please don’t”, Nathalie sighed. It was the first time Marcus had heard her use such a vulnerable tone, so he let it pass.

***

Marcus’ words made Nathalie even more sure about the forbidden feelings she had towards Arianna. What a Templar she was; She was sent to look out after Marcus, but instead of that she fell to a mage herself. Great, Nathalie, she cursed at herself. The final push beyond the edge was when Nathalie felt jealousy for the first time. She happened to walk through armory to which only few Templars (Nathalie was of course one of them) had access to. When she heard Arianna’s voice she stopped and hid herself behind a large shelf full of longswords.

“Something is going on Nathan. And I-I’m afraid that...I don’t know, I just feel it you know?” Arianna hugged herself nervously as she spoke.

“What do you mean?” The Templar asked. Arianna sighed.

“I don’t know and that’s the problem. I just have this feeling”, she continued.

“Hey hey, don’t cry now”, Nathan consoled. At that time Nathalie felt the urge to run to Arianna. Nathan wrapped his arms around Arianna and stroked her brown hair. Nathalie felt betrayed. There were no promises between them; She had simply hoped that there was something more. Apparently Arianna just didn’t feel the same as she did. Nathalie stood up and showed herself. Nathan let Arianna immediately go.

“Uhm...This is just...I mean I just...”, Nathan’s words trailed off.

“Do you have any idea just what-” Nathalie started with harsh tone, but fell silent as she felt it. There was a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Nathalie…”, Arianna said with sad voice and reached her hand towards Nathalie. She couldn’t take it. Not only had she cried in front of them, but she also felt so stupid and betrayed. At that moment Nathalie knew it: She loved Arianna.


	5. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say two chapters? I meant *cough* three..  
> I got a "bit" carried away with these chapters, sorry about that ^^ Well anyway this is the final Arianna/Nathalie chapter.

## Chapter 5

### Goodbye

Arianna felt like all air was being sucked out of her lungs.

“Uhm that was Nathalie, right?” Nathan looked confused, “I mean this sure looked wrong, but she wouldn’t have cried just because of that”

“No, I...Oh Maker what I am going to do..?” Arianna panicked. Nathalie had misunderstood. Arianna loved Nathan, but in the way she would love a brother.

“Calm down. What do you mean?” he asked with his soothing voice.

“She must think that you and me…”, Arianna couldn’t focus in forming sentences. All she could think about was how she had screwed up everything. What if she had pushed Nathalie away for good? She had just made her trust her (And that wasn’t an easy task) and Nathalie seemed like a person who forgive things like that easily.

“You and I are like...together?” Nathan seemed incredulous. Soon after that he burst into a loud laughter.

“Nathan, this is serious!” Arianna shrieked.

“I’m so sorry but...You and me? That’s just-”, Nathan couldn’t even finish before he had another burst of laughter. Arianna shot daggers at him with her eyes and finally Nathan could restrain himself. After seeing a truly miserable look on her face Nathan sobered.

“You are serious about her?” he asked quietly. Arianna nodded.

“But she is a Templar”, Nathan noted. Arianna raised her eyebrows at him.

“Right, point taken”, Nathan gave a laugh.

“W-What if she doesn’t want to see me anymore or-”

“Arianna, for the love of Andraste, calm down! She looked like reaaaally upset, so that means she feels something for you, right? Now you stop panicking and then go to her and explain everything”, Nathan commanded.

“Aren’t you against this? I mean I’m a mage and she is a-”

“She is a good and admirable woman. She obviously cares for you, and you for her. I believe she’d keep you safe and make you happy. You know, I wouldn’t give you to anyone less”, Nathan patted Arianna on the head, “Now go get her, Tiger”

“I love you, you know that?” Arianna sniffed. She was so grateful for Nathan, who was always able to calm her and tell her what to do.

“Ah, yeah well I know I’m almost irresistible-”, he began sarcastically but fell silent when Arianna wrapped her thin arms around him. It took only couple seconds for him to react as he hugged the girl tightly.

“I love you too, Ari”, he whispered. After the two parted from the embrace Arianna ran out of the armory towards the barracks. She wouldn’t give up on Nathalie. Not then or ever.

***

Nathalie practically ran all the way to the barracks and at the same time she wiped the tears from her eyes. How could she have been so ridiculous? Falling for a mage and on top of that she didn’t even love her back. As soon as she reached the barracks she headed to the much smaller separate room that was meant for female Templars. Ostwick didn’t have that many of them, so Nathalie was particularly there always alone. She walked around the room, not being able to sit down. She took deep breaths as she walked. Nathalie also let her hair free which was really rare for her. She was just about to sit down on the bed when there was a knock on the door.

“Nat I know you are there. I trust you are dressed?” It was Marcus. Nathalie sighed. She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.

“What do you want?” she sounded angrier than she had intended. The door was opened and Marcus slipped inside. However he didn’t shut the door and soon after him Arianna entered the room. As soon as Nathalie saw her she jumped up.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, “If the other Templars see you they’ll punish us all!” Nathalie was a little intimidated by the look on Arianna’s face. It’s like she hadn’t heard anything Nathalie had said; she just kept staring at her without saying anything.

“Thanks, Marcus”, she said without shifting her gaze. Marcus nodded and then left the room without saying a word. He also shut the door behind him.

“Nathalie, _you_ are a Templar and _I_ a mage. For many that would be enough to not pursue any deeper relationship. However I don’t care any of that”, Arianna talked in a voice that revealed she meant every word she said, “Lately all I’ve been able to think about is you. Your fierce eyes when you get excited about something, your weird laugh, your beautiful hair that shines even in the slightest light, the fact that you are always looking at me and the fact that I can make you laugh and to be happy. I love the fact that you don’t see me only as a mage; you see me as a woman. I have known you only for months, yet in that short time I have felt more, more than ever”.

Nathalie felt her heart pounding harder than ever before. As Arianna spoke she also moved slowly closer to her. For every step she took, Nathalie felt breathing getting harder.

“It’s true, I love Nathan. But he’s like a brother to me. Whenever I see him, I don’t feel the urge to hold his hand, feel the taste of his lips and run my fingers through his long black hair”, now Arianna was standing right in front of shuddering Nathalie. All Nathalie could think about was, that Nathan _didn’t_ have neither black nor long hair.

“Maybe this is crazy…Maybe _I’m crazy_ , but still I know that I love you. Nathalie, I love you”, now Arianna was standing right in front of Nathalie who couldn’t help but to gasp. Arianna wrapped her arms around Nathalie’s neck and let her gaze wander from her eyes to her lips. The time felt to stop when they crashed their lips together. Nathalie let the girl explore every inch of her mouth and she couldn’t help but to moan a little. She would’ve fainted if Arianna didn’t grab her by the waist. The kiss felt perfect, actually so perfect that Nathalie forgot to breath. When their lips finally parted, Nathalie found herself gasping for air. They just stared at each others for a time that felt like an eternity.

“So...good?” Arianna asked while she run her fingers through Nathalie’s hair. For a moment it looked like Nathalie was about to cry.

“I love you too”, she managed to whisper. She pressed her face against Arianna’s shoulder who was still stroking her hair.

***

In the next months to follow, Arianna felt happier than ever. As it was with Nathan, she couldn’t be with Nathalie either, in front of the prying eyes of other Templars and mages. But that didn’t matter. Actually she found it rather exciting; the two of them sneaking into some secret place and then embracing each others with all their might. On the surface Nathalie still was the Ice princess (Some really did call her that), but when she was alone with Arianna, she was the most loving girlfriend one could ever hope for. Arianna loved the fact that she was the only one to see that side of her.

It was rather amusing for Arianna to watch the lecture Marcus gave to Nathalie after he found out about their relationship. Even though he pretended to be mad, Arianna could tell from his eyes that he was actually happy for them. The other thing that made her happy was that Nathalie seemed to get along with Nathan. Rather well actually. She would often catch them laughing at something, though it annoyed her a bit that Nathalie laughed so joyfully with others than her. The only thing shadowing Arianna’s life was the ominous feeling she was having, but couldn’t explain. The relations between mages and Templars were getting worse. Every week there were more and more tranquils walking the corridors. And it wasn’t just that: Some mages were acting weird.

“We need to be ready if something were to happen”, Nathalie said when they were having a conversation concerning the recent agitations.

“I’m ready to run away with you”, Arianna replied without hesitation. Nathalie smiled at her response.

“If it would go to a rebellion, I couldn’t leave”, she said however.

“And as if I’d leave you”

“Arianna, you would be in the immediate danger. I’d have to stay and try to solve that mess”

“And I would help you!”

“No, you would leave and go somewhere safe”

“If you want me out of this Tower, you’ll have to come with me!” Arianna replied with hands on her waist. She could be stubborn if she wanted.

“You can’t ask me that”, Nathalie sighed. Arianna tried to argue, but it seemed like Nathalie had already made her mind. No matter how hard they loved each other, she was still a Templar. A Templar that would give her life to protect others from magic. Arianna couldn’t have that.

***

It was like any other morning when Nathalie was awaken by a knock coming from the door. It was an apprentice, sent by the Knight-Commander.

“H-he asked to see you. R-right now”, the boy seemed nervous. Even though Nathalie found it weird for the Knight-Commander to send a mage as a courier, she put on her armor and headed to his office. When she got there, she found the First Enchanter leaning to the door.

“Ah, good you’re here”, the man said. As always he was looking at Nathalie with grim eyes.

“The Knight-Commander has asked for us both. In the armory”, he continued. Nathalie couldn’t help but to feel the uneasiness in her guts to grow. He followed the First Enchanter without saying a word as they headed to the armory. On their way, Nathalie noticed that there were almost half less amount of Templars patrolling than there should be. _The Knight-Commander will have answers_ , she thought.

Nathalie entered the armory first, and was a bit startled by the loud bang coming from the closing door. She didn’t see the Knight-Commander anywhere.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“And finally we are alone”, the First Enchanter replied. Nathalie had had enough. She drew her sword and pointed it at the man.

“Where is the Commander?!” she almost shouted. The First Enchanter bursted into laughter, which made Nathalie grip her sword even tighter. The man stopped laughing and his face turned serious. He was looking at her with his twisted eyes.

“The Knight-Commander and the other half of the Templars are dead”, he said without any emotion. Nathalie felt as she was about to vomit. Was he serious?

“W-What are you talking about?” she panted.

“It has begun, you know? Finally we will be released from you Templars!” he answered with pride in his voice. _That’s it_. Nathalie attacked The First Enchanter, who however easily evaded. He only touched his staff when Nathalie felt her sword electrifying. She had no choice but to drop it. As soon as the sword fell to the ground she felt an awful pain at her chest. The First Enchanter kicked her so hard that she fell to the ground.

“Do you even remember their faces..?” he asked and grabbed Nathalie by her hair. She tried to pull-off but the pain stopped her from using much power.

“My wife was one of them. _My_ Reina”, the First Enchanter continued. Nathalie knew what he was referring to. The First Enchanter let her hair go, but instead of that she received a hard kick to her jaw.

“All they tried to do, was to heal her. And you butchered them all like a coward. Great hero you are”, he growled. Nathalie couldn’t see clearly as the pain was unbelievable. She coughed some blood as she tried to get away from the First Enchanter.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. As you and any other Templar-piece of shit are going to die”, he shrugged. He raised his staff and Nathalie closed her eyes. _This is it_ , she thought. There was a loud blast, however Nathalie didn’t feel any pain. She opened her eyes and gasped as right in front of her there was some man with his bow drawn. He had a red cloth covering his face.

“Please, say what”, the man said.

“W-what is this..?” the First Enchanter seemed just as surprised. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the mysterious man to fire several arrows to the First Enchanter’s chest. He dropped his staff and fell on his knees. The man kicked him in the face so hard that he fell to ground. Then he turned to face Nathalie who was staring at the dying First Enchanter with large eyes.

“You’d better run”, the mysterious man said. Nathalie didn’t have time to answer when there was another blast, similar to the first one. And just like that the man had vanished, just as quickly as he had appeared.

No matter what or who the man was, he was right. As soon as she was able, Nathalie picked up her sword and left the armory. Surely by then the remaining Templars would had realized what was happening. And more than that there was a certain mage Nathalie needed to protect.

***

“Arianna, get up!” someone was shaking her shoulder violently. Arianna quickly woke up and when she opened her eyes she could see Nathan’s face like she had never seen it before. He had obviously been in combat recently and he seemed to be terrified.

“Nathan you’re face-”, Arianna could see a deep and bleeding wound on his forehead.

“Never mind that! We need to go! Now!” Nathan was practically pulling her out of her bed.

“W-What is going on?” Arianna asked as she got up. Nathan grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the women’s quarters. Arianna gasped as she saw dozens of both Templar and mage corpses lying in the corridors. In horror she covered her mouth with her free hand. They were almost running the whole way and at last they reached the secret exit Nathan had told her about. She had never seen what was behind the wooden door, but what she understood, there was a cave eventually leading back to the surface and out of the Tower.

“Arianna, you must go first. I need to go and help the others defend the main gate. I’ll follow you as soon as I can...That is if I....”, Nathan looked like he was in pain. Arianna had a million thought running wild in her head. Shock would be an understatement. The rebellion had begun, many of the people she had met on daily basis were dead, her home was going to be destroyed. However there was one thing more terrible; Nathalie wasn’t there.

“Where is she?” was all she could ask.

“Arianna, I don’t-”

“Nathan, you go to the main gate. I’ll go find her and as soon as I do, we’ll meet you here”, Arianna managed to sound reassuring. She and Nathan changed a quick but meaningful look. Before they parted, Nathan took her hand.

“You be careful”, he almost whispered.

As soon as Arianna found herself alone at the empty corridor, she felt how hard she was shaking. There were blood on the walls and she could recognize many of the corpses. She bit her lip and started running. The only thing that kept her from breaking down was the thought of Nathalie. I’ll find you, she kept telling herself.

“A-Arianna..!” there was a faint voice coming from the library. Arianna ran towards the voice. Under one of the tables there was an enchanter she recognized. Her name was Yvette and they had often read the same books.

“I-I’m wounded”, Yvette cried. Arianna helped her stand up. She placed her leaning to a bookshelf and after that healed her as much as she could. Yvette was panting and she clung to Arianna’s arm the whole time.

“Thank you. I-I am much better now”, Yvette said though it was obvious that she was in pain.

“Have you seen Nathalie? The Templar with black hair?” Arianna asked.

“I haven’t... But some of the others might know”

“Others? Where are they?”

“When the killings began...We barricaded ourselves to the eastern quarters. I left to search for other survivors, but then I was stabbed by a Templar. Oh Maker why is this happening..? I-We didn’t want anything to do with this! Yet they just...”, Yvette seemed to be holding cry in.

“Yvette, gather all the remaining survivors and take them to first floor’s secondary armory. There is a Templar named Nathan waiting. He will lead you to safety if you tell him I sent you”

“But why would a Templar help us?”

“He is a good man. You need to trust me and him if you wish to leave this place alive”, Arianna explained. Yvette nodded and they both stood up. Yvette left immediately and once again Arianna was all by herself.

She was about to continue her searching when she saw a group of Templars approaching. They all had their swords lifted and Arianna could tell they were going to kill her. She had never before killed anyone, but at that time there was only a single thought in her mind: kill or be killed. Suddenly one the Templars charged but stopped as soon as he saw Arianna’s face up close.

“Arianna?” the voice belonged to no other but Marcus.

“What are you waiting for?! Kill her!” one of the other Templars roared.

“No, she is not-”, Marcus tried to say but was immediately interrupted.

“Out of my way, fool!” the Templar shouted and pushed Marcus aside. He was about to strike Arianna dead. She quickly dodged but the Templar just attacked again. Arianna grabbed her staff and shot a lightning bolt at the Templar. He however blocked it with his greatsword, which was without a doubt designed to shield its user from magical attacks. The Templar lunged once again, and this time he managed to wound Arianna’s arm. She gasped from pain and dropped her staff. She was no fighter.

“DIE!” the Templar shouted and raised his sword. He didn’t have time to strike as a Templar with long black hair appeared from nowhere and tackled him.

***

Had she gotten there any later, the love of her life would probably have died. Nathalie didn’t waste a single thought as she she already ran towards Hernando who was about kill Arianna. She tackled him so hard that he fell to the ground.

“What are you doing?!” asked one of the Templars. Nathalie didn’t recognize any of them since they all had their helmets on. Nathalie didn’t react to the question as she saw Arianna’s bleeding arm. She quickly helped her on her feet. Hernando also got up.

“You traitor!” he rasped.

“I am no traitor! And neither is any of you! You all are needed at the front gate. The rebels must be held in the tower no matter what. I will deal with this mage and after that I will join the fight”

“You are just going to let her get away! You are with the mages!” Hernando shouted.

“I would _never_ betray the Order. _Never_. I am sure of this mages intentions and I will judge her according to that”, Nathalie replied.

“She is telling the truth! We must trust her and get to the main gate!” Marcus stood up from the group. Hernando seemed to vacillate.

“Very well. I’ll trust this mage to you. Everyone move out!”he finally commanded.

“I’ll see you soon”, Marcus said to Nathalie before they parted. Nathalie nodded and the Templars left, leaving Nathalie alone with Arianna.

“Are you okay?” Nathalie asked.

“It hurts, but the wound is not that deep”, Arianna tried to smile reassuringly. Nathalie stroked her cheek.

“Thank the Maker you are alive”, she whispered.

“I’d had killed you myself, if you had died”, Arianna answered. Nathalie couldn’t help but to smile a bit. _That was so like her_.

“Go to Nathan now. He is taking you to safet-”

“You have to come with me!”

“Arianna, you heard me right? I won’t betray them”

“I didn’t say anything about betraying!”

“That is exactly what you mean. I am a Templar and it’s my duty to help to stop this madness”

“Why you have to be like this?!” Arianna seemed to be on a verge of tears.

“Would you love me if I was something else..?”

“I...I just can’t live if something happens to you”, Arianna managed to say before breaking into tears. Nathalie grabbed her unharmed hand and placed it on her own heart.

“I promise to you that I’ll come find you as soon as the immediate danger is over. No offence dear, but you are not a fighter. I am, and on top of that I’m also a Templar. I’ll be fine”, Nathalie said with faint smile. Arianna hugged her tightly despite her wounded arm. She placed a kiss on Nathalie’s neck.

“You better find us, you hear me?” Arianna whispered to her neck.

“I promise”, Nathalie answered. She didn’t want to let Arianna go. Not then nor ever. But she knew she had to. Eventually they reluctantly parted from the embrace.

“Goodbye, my love”, Nathalie forced herself to say. She couldn’t watch Arianna’s tears so she turned to take her leave. Nathalie drew her sword before she dashed off.


	6. Too many stairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the story begins!  
> Lots of dialogue in this chapter :o

## Chapter 6

### Too many stairs

“I’m telling ya, this bastard is cheating or something!”Hans shouted as he hit the table with his large fist. The hit made most of the cards and coins drop to the floor.

“Don’t blame me for your incapability to play this game” Del answered with a small laugh.

“Incapability?! Hah! I’m fine losing a few games, but how is it possible that you’ve won seven games in a row, huh?”

“I got lucky?” Del suggested and settled himself better on the chair. Hans was one of the many mercenaries in the Maiden’s Lament , spending his coins on cheap ale and gambling. He might’ve been right about the cheating. Was it the many hits on his head or something he was born with, but Hans wasn’t the smartest lad around. He was easy to fool, Del happened to be good at cheating half-witted thugs and in need of some extra coin. Simple as that. However he thought even Hans would’ve realized the deceit earlier. _Andraste’s ass, Seven games._

“You want me to kick your ass, or what?” Hans threatened. Del made a quick survey of the situation. There were three other mercs spectating the game without counting Hans himself. They all were heavily armed. Del could’ve maybe taken out two of them but he really wasn’t in the mood to get a broken nose.

“Look, man. I didn’t cheat you and I really don’t want to fight. How about I take my winnings and then we both can go separate ways?” Del said and slowly started to collect the coins from the table.

“How about you shut up and leave those coins alone, _Orlesian_?” Hans grunted. Del dropped all the coins he had collected. _How does he know_? 

“What did you say?” Del felt his jaw tauten.

As unpleasant as it was, Del fled Kirkwall soon after the Circle’s rebellion. The Templars were all crazy, to the point where they actually banished Hawke herself. It just wasn’t safe anymore. Not that Del couldn’t protect himself, it was just that Kirkwall wasn’t the same city he had came to know and love. After living there became unbearable Del packed what little he had and headed to Nevarra. At least it’s a fresh start, is what he would say to himself everytime he thought about always so cozy Gallows and Lowtown. Del couldn’t help but to feel homesick at times. As soon as the mages and Templars got their shit back together he would go back. _Things_ would go back the way they were. No one was supposed to know him. It was his intention to keep low profile and do Red Jenny things.

“You heard me, _Orlesian_ ”, Hans repeated the word on purpose. Del didn’t reply. Instead of that he pulled the hidden knife from his boot and in a flash he threw it to Hans’ right thigh. _So much for the low profile_. Hans fell to the ground while his leg was bleeding like hell.

“You fucker! My leg!” he shouted from pain. The other two mercs drew their swords.

“Die, scum!” the other one shouted as he attacked. Del however was already two steps ahead of him. He jumped on the table and from there he grabbed the ceiling beams. He pulled himself up right before the blade hit him. As soon as he regained his balance he drew his bow and aimed it at the thug who had tried to kill him only seconds earlier.

“Just for your information, I hit your _friend’s_ artery. He’s going to die, unless you take him to a healer. And no, I wouldn’t try to pull it off”, Del said with firm voice.

“Get down here and fight like a real man!”, the thug yelled.

“Like a real man? Because it’s a really fair fight, two versus one”, Del stretched his bowstring. Suddenly the whole inn fell to silence with the exception of panting and cursing Hans. Everyone were staring at them.

“Help me, you fools”, Hans managed to say. The two mercs looked at each other as they were pondering whether to help their friend or to attack Del.

“I’ll give you five seconds. After that there’ll be another injured artery”, Del warned them. The other merc nodded.

“We’ll be back for you”, he said.

“We’re not done with you”, the other one added.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, dear”, Del answered with a forced smile. The mercs picked Hans up and left the inn without saying a word.

As soon as they were gone, Del landed from the ceiling. Most of the mercs lost their interest at him as soon as they realized there wouldn’t be a proper fight. Del gathered his winnings from the table and headed to the bar.

“The usual”, he ordered and and left few coppers on the counter.

“Next time take your business outside, you hear me?” the bartender grunted as he filled a pint with ale.

“Yeah yeah”, Del answered. The bartender slammed the pint on the counter and gave him a warning look. Del took a large gulp of the ale. He noticed that a hooded man sitting next to him was staring at him.

“You have something to say?” Del asked him and took another drink.

“No, I was just...I don’t know. What was that with those mercs?” the man asked.

“Aah, that. Accused me for cheating”

“Well, did you?”

“Of course not”, Del lied but his devious smile gave the truth away.

“Right”, the man gave a small laugh.

“So what are your thoughts?” Del asked and finished his pint. It was the day of the Divine’s conclave. The whole Thedas was holding its breath.

“It better go well”

“I think that everyone has endured quite enough of their shit”, Del half sighed.

“They sure have”, the man answered. He raised his hand to order a drink.

“Let me”, Del said and put more coppers on the counter, “and make it two”

“Thanks”, the man smiled.

“Yeah, no problem”, Del answered as the bartender brought them two pints of ale.

“I’m Nathan”, the man introduced himself.

Nathan was a rather nice fellow. From what Del had gathered, he was a Templar from Ostwick’s Circle. At first he seemed reluctant to talk about himself, but after a few pint he started talking. Not only did he talk about his life as a Templar. Nathan started to tell about his childhood, faith, mages and for some reason his love for dogs. Del mostly listened but at some points he also revealed some things about his life. His life in Kirkwall of course. He didn’t mention that he was a Red Jenny either.

“You’ve ever been to Orlais?” Nathan asked suddenly. Del nearly choked to his drink. He started coughing and Nathan patted him on his back.

“Are you okay?” he asked. As soon as Del could breathe again he answered.

“Yeah, I’ll just go outside a bit. It was nice talking with you”, he got up.

“You’re leaving?” Nathan sounded disappointed.

“I think fresh air would nice”, Del said and exited the inn.

The air was rather chilly, just what Del had hoped for. Ever since he was little he had had all kinds of problems with his head. He would often have headaches that hurt like hell. He couldn’t see properly and all noises and lights hurt. And that wasn’t the worst thing. Sometimes he would have these spasms where he lost the control of his own body. He would shake uncontrollably and his eyes turned so that only the white parts could be seen. Some believed that he was possessed or something. One could only imagine what kind of fuss his mother raised over his spasms. He wasn’t allowed to attend to almost any parties, not that it mattered to him, and most of the time his mother would just keep him inside their villa. Whether it was about going to play outside or walking too many stairs, the answer was always the same. _You’re sick, Delmont_. It was hearing and thinking about those words that made him feel sick.

It was getting dark and the air was even colder. Del looked at the road leading from the inn to the village. He knew he would have to leave soon; he was no longer incognito. Plus it wouldn’t take long for a dozens of mercs to knock on his room’s door. Or you could rather say ‘smash his door to pieces’. Soon the conclave would be over and he could return to Kirkwall. It was a thought that made him happy. Maybe even the viscountess would be able to return. Del decided he would leave the next morning.

He was just about to open the inn’s door when it was slammed open from the inside. A rather young looking girl dashed from the inn. She had a cloak with its hood covering her face in the same fashion Nathan and Del himself had. The girl looked frantic as she watched the sky.

“Uh...Are you alright?” Del asked and took a step closer to her. She seemed startled and she looked at Del with her large deep blue-colored eyes. At first the girl looked at Del’s red shawl and after that his bow. She opened her mouth as to say something but right then the door was slammed open for the second time. This time it was Nathan.

“Arianna, what’s wrong?” Nathan seemed worried. The girl, apparently named Arianna didn’t reply. She just kept staring at Del.

“Is it you..?” Arianna asked. Del and Nathan both looked equally confused.

“Wait...You know each other?” Nathan asked.

“No, I have never seen-”, Del’s words trailed off as he felt a sharp pain in his head. He buried his face to his hands.

“Del, what’s happening?” Nathan grabbed Del’s shoulder. Del could barely hear Arianna’s gasp before there was a deafening grumble coming from the sky.

“What in the Maker’s name is that!?” Del heard Nathan’s shocked voice. He lifted his face to see a huge green crack in the sky.

“LOOK OUT!” Nathan shouted. It was the last thing anyone had time to say when something came down from the crack. Del saw demons before he fell to the ground and lost his consciousness.


	7. The Breach

## Chapter 7

### The Breach

Arianna was happier than she’d been in weeks. The Divine had declared the Conclave, which would hopefully put an end to the war. There would be peace again and most of all she could see Nathalie. That was the thought that helped her cope with everything. And by everything she meant her and Nathan’s long journey from the Circle to ? Nathan was understandably on edge, just like everyone else. Arianna knew part of him wanted to go. However when she tried to talk with him about it, he just got pissed and the conversation ended with Nathan leaving the room, slamming the door behind him. Arianna often found Nathan sitting on the bed with his face buried to his hands. She didn’t know what she could possibly have said to ease his suffering, so most of the times she just left him be. It wasn’t like she didn’t have troubles of her own. In addition to losing her home and Nathalie and constantly having to fear for her life, the uneasiness she’d been having didn’t stop even after the war began. She often wondered what could be worse. Why didn’t the feeling go away?

The awful feeling finally culminated when Arianna had a dream about it. As always it was obscure but that time it was _different_. Everything was really dark and the feeling she had when she was awake was ten time worse in the dream. The darkness was teeming with spider-like creatures. The only light there was, was a green light in the distance. Arianna ran towards it, but the creatures were catching up to her. Just when she was about to be overwhelmed, the scenery changed. He was in a room with two figures barely visible. In the corner there was a bed with an unconscious man lying on it. He was obviously in lot of pain as he was shaking and sweating. 

“Will he make it?” asked the other.

“It’s to be seen” the other answered. Arianna noticed that there was the same green light as before, but only this time it was attached to the unconscious man’s hand. The view changed a bit again: Arianna was still in the same room and the same man was still lying on the bed. However the other two figures had vanished. It also seemed to be day, there was light coming from the windows. Arianna was looking out of one the windows when she felt like someone was looking at her. She was shocked to find the man now sitting on the bed and looking straight at her with his light green eyes. It was then when Arianna woke up.

After waking up Arianna quickly got dressed and left her room. She and Nathan had been staying at inns Maker knows how long. On her to the stairwell she bumped into the ridiculously dressed Orlesian minstrel, who often played at the tavern.

“Ah, if isn’t Arianna”, the man said with his strong Orlesian accent.

“Not now, Zither”, Arianna replied as she pushed past him. Zither was a pretty nice fellow, however she didn’t have time. She needed to get out. The uneasiness she’s been having before was nothing compared to what she was having then. She felt like she was choking on it. Now she knew everything was somehow connected to that green light and green-eyed man. After she made it to the downstairs and the tavern she saw rather gloomy Nathan sitting by the bar, a lot of empty pints in front of him. Arianna couldn’t help but to roll her eyes as she rushed past him. _What a time to be drunk, Nathan_ , she thought to herself. 

“Ari?” she heard him say. However she didn’t stop and just exited the building. The air was rather chilly and she was happy that she’d worn her cloak. She looked at the night sky as it could lash out at any moment.

“Uh...Are you alright?” she heard someone say. She turned towards the voice and saw a man whose face was covered with a red shawl. Arianna noticed he had a bow on his back and then it hit her. She had seen the man before. Not physically, but in a dream. In a dream where he had saved Arianna’s life. She just somehow knew it was the same man. Arianna was about to speak, but was interrupted by Nathan who came from the inn.

“Arianna, what’s wrong?” she heard the concern in his voice. Still Arianna couldn’t stop staring at the man.

“Is it you…?” Arianna asked. Nathan and the mysterious man exchanged looks.

“Wait...You know each other?” Nathan asked looking confused.

“No, I’ve never seen-”, the man started but he couldn’t finish what he was going to say. He seemed to be in pain as he buried his face to his hands.

“Del, what’s happening?” Nathan asked and grabbed the man’s, apparently named Del, shoulder. Arianna didn’t have time to say anything as there was loud grumble, followed by a green crack forming in the sky.

“What in the Maker’s name is that?!” Nathan nearly shouted. Seeing the green color and the broken sky made Arianna almost vomit. She saw something falling from the breach and it was approaching their location fast.

“LOOK OUT!” Nathan roared. There was a loud blast and suddenly they were surrounded by at least five demons. And to make matters worse Del fell to the ground and began shaking uncontrollably. Nathan threw away the robe he was wearing and drew his sword and shield.

“Arianna, get behind me”, Nathan ordered. For once Arianna obeyed. When she took her staff she felt her hands trembling. She had never fought demons, not like this, when they were physically standing right in front of her. The first demon attacked and Nathan struck it down. It didn’t take long for the others to start their assault. While Nathan did his best to hold off the demons, Arianna knelt down beside Del. She tried to pick him up, but his body was out of control. Then Arianna heard Nathan cry. The demon had hit him and his cheek was bleeding bad.

“Nathan!” Arianna shouted in panic. She had to help him so she got up and shot the demon with flames. It shrieked as it was set on fire. Nathan was still fighting even though he had taken out three demons single-handedly. However there was no end to the demons, they were constantly pouring out of the breach.

“Nathan, there’s too many of them!” Arianna shouted as she hit a demon with her staff.

“Arianna, go inside! Run!” Nathan shouted.

“I’m not leaving you or Del!” she replied. She didn’t have much left in her, and the demons were starting to outmatch them. Arianna saw a rage demon shooting fire at her and she barely managed to dodge. She felt the burning in her right arm as she fell to the ground. The rage demon prepared for another attack and for a moment Arianna thought it was all over. There was no way she could’ve gotten out of the way fast enough. However the demon was struck by a powerful lightning bolt and it fell screaming under the ground. Arianna looked at the direction where the bolt came from and saw no other than Zither with his lute.

“What in the name of Andraste is going on here?” he asked as he shot sparks with his lute. Never before had Arianna been as relieved to see the Orlesian. She got up real quick but only to see that there were still too many demons even with Zither aiding them.

“Nathan, Zither we have to run!” she shouted and looked for Del with her eyes. He was still lying in the ground, but he was no longer shaking. He seemed to be unconscious or otherwise unable to move. Arianna ran to him and was about to pick him up when Zither approached them.

“Allow me”, he said and picked Del up in bridal style. His head was leaning against Zither’s shoulder and then it was clear he wasn’t conscious.

“Nathan, come on!” Arianna yelled to Nathan who was fighting with his last strength. Nathan hit a demon one last time before he retreated and ran to Arianna and Zither who was carrying Del.

“To the forest, quick!” Nathan shouted and the three of them ran down the hill and towards the forest close to the inn. Arianna didn’t know what was going to happen, what the breach and the man with the same green light in his hand meant, but she knew that the success of the Conclave was the least of everyone's worries.


End file.
